


Ever After

by ellacj



Series: 52 Weeks of Swan Queen [5]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, F/F, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Obsession, Sleeping Curse, this is super dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-03
Updated: 2015-02-03
Packaged: 2018-03-10 08:32:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3283811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellacj/pseuds/ellacj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss."</p><p>-John Steinbeck</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ever After

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry about missing last week; I'm gonna try to get two up this week to get caught up again.

 

Regina squeezes Rocinante’s sides with her thighs, urging him to go faster. Her breath increases as she nears the tower and her stomach rolls. Finally, after what seems like hours, she pulls her steed short at the base of the tall brick structure, dismounting and nodding at the guard standing in front of the door.

“You’re back,” he says, barely hiding his smirk.

“Watch your tongue, Huntsman,” she snaps, but after the years the bite is gone. They’re past the masks by now. “I could still have your head.”

The Huntsman smiles. “Yes, you could.” Then he steps aside to allow his queen access to her prized possession. Her riding cloak billows behind her as she climbs the spiraling staircase, ignoring the saluting guards the whole way up. Finally, she stands outside a simple stone door, locked with a single padlock to which only Regina holds the key. “Stand aside,” she murmurs to the guard, who obeys quickly. Really, the Huntsman is the only one who’s ever had the nerve to talk back.

The door swings open at her slightest touch to reveal a single piece of furniture in the room. It’s a bed. Regina smiles delicately as she shuts the door behind her, moving to the bed and gently pulling back the satin curtains hanging around it. Sighing contentedly, she runs a hand through silky blonde curls and whispers almost inaudibly to the woman in the bed.

“Hello, Emma. I’ve missed you.”

 

_Emma’s thighs burn as she collapses on the ground, groaning after the effort of walking so far in one day. Her stomach screams with hunger and her mouth is drier than she remembers it ever being, and she wants to stand up but she doesn’t think she can. It’s as good a place to die as any, she thinks to herself. She’s just resigning herself to the end when she feels a hand on her arm shaking her back to reality._

_“Are you all right?” a soft, musical voice asks. But whoever it is doesn’t wait for an answer before she rolls Emma onto her back and lifts her head up to gently pour some water into chapped pink lips._

_Emma forces her eyes open and focuses on the dark-haired girl taking care of her. “Who are you?” she slurs once the girl takes the water away._

_“My family is Mills. Regina,” she adds with a smile. “Are you hungry?” She shakes her head. “Of course you are. Come on, my house is just over the hill.” With some effort, she helps Emma to her feet and half-carries her up and over the top of the hill to a farmhouse in the valley._

_“Why are you helping me?” Emma asks once she finds her voice._

_Regina shrugs. “You looked like you needed it.”_

_Emma smiles softly and accepts the bowl of broth Regina presses into her hands. “I’m Emma, by the way.”_

_“No family name?”_

_“No family to speak of.” She shrugs, sipping the broth from the stone bowl. “People call me Swan.”_

_“Emma Swan,” Regina murmurs, as though tasting the name on her tongue. “I’m glad to meet you.”_

 

“Do you remember when we first met?” Regina murmurs, running her fingers gently over Emma’s soft, pale skin. “You were so young. So innocent.” She sighs. “We both were, weren’t we?”

Indeed they were, the two of them. Before the complications of marriage and war and magic. Before Cora.

 

_“Emma!” Regina calls, letting herself fall into the blonde’s arms._

_Emma brushes her lips over Regina’s forehead, holding her tightly. “What’s wrong?” she murmurs. “What happened?”_

_“It’s my mother.” Sobs rack her body, and she takes a moment to gather herself before she continues. “She’s sent me off to be married. To the king.”_

_“How the hell did she manage that?” Emma murmurs, stroking Regina’s hair. “It’s okay. We’ll figure this out.”_

_“I don’t want you to leave.”_

_Emma draws Regina closer, whispering in her ear. “I don’t want to leave either.”_

 

Regina shakes her head in disappointment at what her memory has shown her, her grip tightening on Emma’s hand. “You know, it’s not nice to lie to the people who love you,” she says to the sleeping woman before her. “If you wanted to leave you should have just said so.” Something out of the corner of her eye catches her attention, drawing a smile to her face as she looks over.

It’s the potion she made three years ago. A dark hair and a blonde one, curling around each other, emanating light from the vial where they rest. “Of course, you won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.”

 

_Regina smooths the hideous white gown, looking herself up and down in the mirror. “Goodbye,” she whispers to her reflection._

_“My lady?” her guard says from behind her, shutting the chamber door behind him. “A visitor to see you. A Traveler Swan.”_

_“Send her in.” Regina forces herself to hide her smile. Her love has come to save her. A figure enters the room, face hidden by the hood of her cloak, which she promptly removes as soon as the guard is gone. “Emma.”_

_Emma allows Regina to fall into her arms, but something about the embrace feels… off. Emma sighs. “We need to talk.”_

_Pulling away to look Emma in the eye, Regina frowns. “About what?”_

_“We can’t see each other anymore.”_

_“What? Why not?”_

_Emma sighs again. “You’re getting married. To the king. If anyone found out we’d both be killed, and I don’t want to die. I don’t want you to die.”_

_“But at least we’d die together,” Regina pleads. “Emma, you can’t leave me. I can’t live without you.”_

_“I’m sorry. But I’ve gotta look out for myself. I love you.”_

_A shadow falls over Regina’s face, and her eyes and lips harden in anger. “Don’t lie to me,” she says ever so quietly. She reaches over to the vanity and pulls out the small vial she received from Rumplestiltskin as a malicious wedding gift, gently prying off the top._

_“W-What are you doing?” Emma stammers._

_Regina smiles as she finds herself at peace with her decision. “Making sure I never lose you.” She gently pours the black dust into her hand, blowing it so that it swirls and settles all around Emma’s body. It’s only a matter of seconds before green eyes fall shut and she collapses to the floor, and Regina uses her magic to lift her into the bed and draw the curtains._

_“There,” she says, satisfied. “Now we’ll always be together.”_

 

 

With a sigh, Regina lets Emma’s hand drop, falling gently on the bed. “This isn’t the same,” she admits. “I miss talking and laughing with you. It’s no fun loving alone.” Another glance at the potion, at the pale, unmoving lips below her.

Another sigh.

“I think it’s been long enough.” She stands and crosses the room to pick up the potion, feeling its warmth emanate through her. “We’re meant to be,” she breathes as she moves to sit back down beside Emma. “And it’s time for you to be again.” With trembling fingers, she leans down and presses her lips to Emma’s, reveling in the burst of light that erupts from the spot where their lips are joined.

Regina’s breath catches in her throat when she feels movement from below her, and her eyes flutter open as she pulls away to meet soft green ones. “Emma,” she breathes.

“Regina?” Emma’s voice cracks after years of disuse. “What happened? Where are we?”

“We’re in your tower. You’ve been sleeping here for a long time.”

Emma frowns, and it all seems to come back to her. “Wait. You… you put me here, didn’t you?”

“I…”

“What the hell, Regina? You can’t just do that!”

“But we’re meant to me!” Regina gasps desperately. “I couldn’t just let you throw us away!”

“No. You just sealed the deal.” Emma stands up, taking a moment to steady herself before storming to the chamber door.

“Emma, please, you can’t do this. We’re true loves.”

“Fuck that,” Emma scoffs. “I can’t be with someone who kidnaps me just so I’ll stay with her.” She throws the door open and hurries down the stairs, causing the guards to cast Regina questioning looks that she can’t bear to answer. She just watches blonde hair and blue cape billowing behind her retreating love; just lets her go like she probably should have done all those years ago.

“I love you,” Regina whispers in a broken voice as she closes the door again. Glancing around the room, her eyes focus in on the silk curtain ties around the bed Emma once occupied. Slowly, with tears in her eyes, she takes the ribbon in her hand, fashioning a slipknot with a perfectly-sized loop. “I love you, Emma,” she repeats. “And I can’t live without you.” with shuddering shoulders, she slips her head through the loop of the ribbon and ties the other end to the canopy of the bed. Before she lifts her feet, she looks to the closed door.

“Goodbye, Emma.”


End file.
